PDF— Granite-Greenstone Belts Separated by Porcupine-Destor
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
C G E S NT N A ER S e B EC w o TIO ok N Vol. 8, No. 10 October 1998 es st t or INSIDE Rel e • 1999 Section Meetings ea GSA TODAY Rocky Mountain, p. 25 ses North-Central, p. 27 A Publication of the Geological Society of America • Honorary Fellows, p. 8 Lithoprobe Leads to New Perspectives on 70˚ -140˚ 70˚ Continental Evolution -40˚ Ron M. Clowes, Lithoprobe, University -120˚ of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, -60˚ -100˚ -80˚ Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada, 60˚ Wopmay 60˚ [email protected] Slave SNORCLE Fred A. Cook, Department of Geology & Thelon Rae Geophysics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Nain Province AB T2N 1N4, Canada 50˚ ECSOOT John N. Ludden, Centre de Recherches Hearne Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, Taltson Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, Cedex, France AB Trans-Hudson Orogen SC THOT LE WS Superior Province ABSTRACT Cordillera AG Lithoprobe, Canada’s national earth KSZ o MRS 40 40 science research project, was established o Grenville Province in 1984 to develop a comprehensive Wyoming Penokean GL -60˚ understanding of the evolution of the -120˚ Yavapai Province Orogen Appalachians northern North American continent. With rocks representing 4 b.y. of Earth -100˚ -80˚ history, the Canadian landmass and off- Phanerozoic Proterozoic Archean shore margins provide an exceptional 200 Ma - present 1100 Ma 3200 - 2650 Ma opportunity to gain new perspectives on continental evolution. Lithoprobe’s 470 - 275 Ma 1300 - 1000 Ma 3400 - 2600 Ma 10 study areas span the country and 1800 - 1600 Ma 3800 - 2800 Ma geological time. A pan-Lithoprobe syn- 1900 - 1800 Ma 4000 - 2500 Ma thesis will bring the project to a formal conclusion in 2003. Each transect 2100 - 1900 Ma involves an integrated, collaborative, Figure 1. Location of Lithoprobe transects on a simplified tectonic element map of northern North multidisciplinary scientific program. America; MRS is mid-continent rift system. Transects: SC—Southern Cordillera; AB—Alberta Basement; Two transects are highlighted here. The SNORCLE—Slave–Northern Cordillera Lithospheric Evolution; THOT—Trans-Hudson Orogen; WS—West- first, across southern British Columbia, ern Superior; KSZ—Kapuskasing Structural Zone; GL—Great Lakes International Multidisciplinary Pro- illustrates elements of evolution of the gram on Crustal Evolution (GLIMPCE); AG—Abitibi-Grenville; LE—Lithoprobe East; and ECSOOT—East- ern Canadian Shield Onshore-Offshore. Canadian Cordillera and the Cascadia subduction zone. A key result is that crustal rocks of accreted terranes are detached from their subducting litho- INTRODUCTION— Understanding the tectonic develop- sphere and attached as thin flakes to THE LITHOPROBE PROJECT ment of northern North America requires the craton. Accretion at Cascadia is collaborative application of multiple Earth characterized by both underplating and Canada, with its diverse geology span- Science disciplines to acquire comprehen- duplexing of old oceanic crust below ning 4 b.y. of Earth history, is unique in sive two-dimensional knowledge of units the backstop and near-surface thrusting providing the opportunity to investigate at the surface, as well as information in to form an accretionary wedge. The continental evolution over an immense the third (depth) and fourth (time) dimen- second, a lithospheric section across the time period. The country is a mosaic of sions. Lithoprobe brings together these southeastern Superior province of Que- tectonic elements forming a complex ingredients in a series of 10 study areas bec, provides direct evidence for plate jigsaw puzzle representing continental (transects; Fig. 1), focused on geological tectonics in the Late Archean. Comple- growth, destruction, and reorganization. features of Canada that represent globally mentary studies indicate that the north- Lithoprobe is providing the opportunity significant tectonic processes. The study dipping collisional subduction zone(s?) to address fundamental questions, with areas span the country from Vancouver imaged by reflection data stepped global implications, on how the current Island to Newfoundland, from the north- southward with time. Postcollisional continental configuration was established ern United States to the Yukon and North- modification of the lower crust and what tectonic processes were occurred across the southern part involved. The project began in 1984 of the region. and will end in 2003. Lithoprobe continued on p. 2 IN THIS ISSUE GSA TODAY October Vol. 8, No. 10 1998 Lithoprobe Leads to New Perspectives Call for Nominations — on Continental Evolution ............ 1 Penrose, Day, Honorary Fellows .......... 20 GSA TODAY (ISSN 1052-5173) is published monthly In Memoriam .......................... 2 Young Scientist Award, Past Medalists .... 22 by The Geological Society of America, Inc., with offices at 3300 Distinguished Service, Officers and Penrose Place, Boulder, Colorado. Mailing address: P.O. Box GSA On The Web ...................... 3 Councilors, External Awards .............. 24 9140, Boulder, CO 80301-9140, U.S.A. Periodicals postage 1997 Honorary Fellows Named ......... 8 paid at Boulder, Colorado, and at additional mailing offices. 1999 Section Meetings — Postmaster: Send address changes to GSA Today, Member- GSA Division News ..................... 8 Rocky Mountain ........................ 25 ship Services, P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301-9140. 1998 Annual Meeting — Toronto North-Central ........................... 27 Copyright © 1998, The Geological Society of America, Inc. McPhee Book Signing ................... 8 Divisions and Sections Award Grants .... 30 (GSA). All rights reserved. Copyright not claimed on content Annual Environmental Forum ............ 12 prepared wholly by U.S. Government employees within the Bulletin and Geology Contents .......... 32 scope of their employment. Permission is granted to individ- NSF Funding for Hydrological Sciences . 13 uals to photocopy freely all items other than the science arti- Washington Report .................... 9 Calendar .............................. 34 cles to further science and education. Individual scientists are GSA Section Meetings .................. 34 hereby granted permission, without royalties or further GSAF Update .......................... 10 requests, to make unlimited photocopies of the science arti- Environment Matters ................... 12 Division News ......................... 35 cles for use in classrooms to further education and science, GSA Annual Meetings .................. 36 and to make up to five copies for distribution to associates in Geological Reasoning Unique? .......... 15 the furtherance of science; permission is granted to make GSA Honors 50-Year Fellows ............ 18 Classifieds ............................. 37 more than five photocopies for other noncommercial, non- profit purposes furthering science and education upon pay- ment of a fee ($0.25 per page-copy) directly to the Copy- right Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA, phone (978) 750-8400, http://www.copy- right.com; when paying, reference GSA Today, ISSN 1052- In Memoriam 5173. Written permission is required from GSA for all other forms of capture, reproduction, and/or distribution of any item in this publication by any means, including posting on Jack G. Blythe Joseph D. Martinez George L. Snyder authors’ or organizational Web sites, except that permission Wichita, Kansas Baton Rouge, Louisiana Denver, Colorado is granted to authors to post the abstracts only of their sci- ence articles on their own or their organization’s Web site April 12, 1998 February 11, 1998 August 16, 1998 providing the posting includes this reference: “The full paper was published in the Geological Society of America’s news- Morgan J. Davis, Jr. Richard H. Merriam Wilbur L. Stevenson magazine, GSA Today, [include year, month, and page num- Houston, Texas San Marcos, California Bellaire, Texas ber if known, where article appears or will appear].” GSA November 5, 1997 April 3, 1998 February 7, 1998 provides this and other forums for the presentation of diverse opinions and positions by scientists worldwide, Richard L. Denham Leo R. Newfarmer Lon B. Turk regardless of their race, citizenship, gender, religion, or polit- ical viewpoint. Opinions presented in this publication do not Brewer, Maine La Jolla, California Oklahoma City, Oklahoma reflect official positions of the Society. March 27, 1998 May 20, 1998 Charles W. Oliphant SUBSCRIPTIONS for 1998 calendar year: Society John C. Dunlap Tulsa, Oklahoma Paul T. Walton Members: GSA Today is provided as part of membership dues. Contact Membership Services at (800) 472-1988, Dallas, Texas January 19, 1998 Salt Lake City, Utah (303) 447-2020 or [email protected] for member- February 14, 1998 July 27, 1998 ship information. Nonmembers & Institutions: Free Brian S. Oversby with paid subscription to both GSA Bulletin and Geology, John Lemish Latham, Australia otherwise $50 for U.S., Canada, and Mexico; $60 else- Ames, Iowa May 12, 1998 where. Contact Subscription Services. Single copies may be requested from Publication Sales. Also available on an March 22, 1998 annual CD-ROM, (together with GSA Bulletin, Geology, GSA Data Repository, and an Electronic Retrospective Index to journal articles from 1972); $89 to GSA Members, others call GSA Subscription Services for prices and details. Claims: For nonreceipt or for damaged copies, members contact Lithoprobe continued from p. 1 reworking of the Archean crust, in some Membership Services; all others contact Subscription Ser- cases preserving